By Matt Gordon
In the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, spectators of the high jump event looked on to a peculiar sight. A young American named Dick Fosbury threw himself over the high jump bar backwards in a new, innovative way that was far different than the typical forward scissor-like jump that was then commonplace in the sport. Some journalists described what they witnessed similar to a “a guy falling off the back of a truck”, but it was clear after Fosbury set a new world record and won the Gold medal that this unfamiliar approach was here to stay. Since then, the “Fosbury Flop” has become the predominant technique in the sport.